1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to gravel separating devices and more specifically it relates to an apparatus and process for separating contaminants from particulate material for separating contaminants from particulate material quickly and efficiently for increasing the production of separated particulate material such as sand or gravel. It can be appreciated that this invention is not limited to separating particulate material such as sand or gravel. The present invention may also be utilized for separating crushed rock, gold or any other well-known non-buoyant material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are numerous gravel separating devices. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,114 to Parker et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,110,454 to Parker et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,605 to Neilsen; U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,994 to Trezek; U.S. Pat. No. 5,436,384 to Grant et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,247 to Lemay et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,599 to Mardigian; U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,256 to Mankosa all are illustrative of such prior art.
Parker et al. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,240,114 and 5,110,454) disclose an apparatus and process for reclaiming gravel, soil particles and wood pieces from a mixture of the same. Jet nozzles produce currents which moves wood pieces over a baffle onto a first conveyor. Rocks from the mixture are not moved over the baffle because of their weight and drop down onto a second conveyor that collects the rock and removes it from the water tank. The design of Parker requires a plurality of nozzles forcing water over the baffle thereby allowing the wood pieces to become engaged to a rock and thereafter fall towards the second conveyor easily providing an unacceptable contamination level.
Neilsen (U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,605) discloses a method and apparatus for separating bark from gravel including. Neilsen teaches a pair of conveyors disposed within a trough declined toward another.
While these devices may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they are not as suitable for separating contaminants from particulate material quickly and efficiently for increasing the production of separated particulate material such as sand or gravel. The prior art does not provide a process or apparatus that rapidly cleans undesirable debris from gravel and sand. Typical gravel cleaning devices utilize slow and inefficient screening methods or slow auger-like cleaners. Though the typical gravel cleaning devices are thorough in cleaning the gravel and sand, they are generally slow. Also, typical gravel cleaning devices are to large to transport to a remote gravel site, thereby requiring loading gravel trucks with a substantial amount of the undesirable debris. The present invention rapidly cleans the undesirable debris from the gravel and sand dependent only upon the percentage of contamination. The present invention is further compact enough that it may be utilized in a remote gravel pit thereby allowing the gravel truck to haul more of the desirable sand and gravel.
In these respects, the apparatus and process for separating contaminants from particulate material according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of separating contaminants from particulate material quickly and efficiently for increasing the production of separated particulate material such as sand or gravel.